UPDATE: Goldman Explains Why Electronics Sales Were Ugly In December

ORIGINAL POST, SEE UPDATE BELOW: We just mentioned how retail sales came in very weak in December — well at least weaker than expected.

One thing that stands out — as noted by Bloomberg TV — is that electronics store sales were pretty dismal.

Check this out.

Just up 0.4% in December year over year at a time when general sales were up 7.7%?

It was easily the weakest category of the whole survey.

Thoughts?

UPDATE:

From Goldman:

The weaker-than-expected retail sales result largely reflected declines in sales by electronics stores and “non-store retailers”, which includes online sales. These categories accounted for much of the large increases in October and November, and weakness in December likely reflects a payback (a surge in sales related to the launch of the latest iPhone in Oct, and aggressive promotional activity in November by some electronics retailers could possibly explain this pattern). Department store sales also declined during the month. Other types of sales mostly increased, but contributions were too small to offset weakness elsewhere. The increase in total retail sales reflected a 1.5% increase in auto sales.

NOW WATCH: Money & Markets videos

Want to read a more in-depth view on the trends influencing Australian business and the global economy? BI / Research is designed to help executives and industry leaders understand the major challenges and opportunities for industry, technology, strategy and the economy in the future. Sign up for free at research.businessinsider.com.au.